Bobber

Discovered the Motorcycle Factory Ajito (their website needs some work) on a Spanish blog called Retro Custom Racer. Ajito is a custom shop in Japan that have made loads of cool sr400’sbobbers but it was this BSA C-11 named Racy King that really stood out. Everything on this bike looks hand made. The seat, brake light and Japanese dragon tank won’t be to everyone’s taste but you have to give credit where credit is due. Ajito has created something truly unique and we look forward to seeing more bikes from these guys in the future.

The Wrenchmonkees have done it again. Creating a truly unique HD XLCH Hardtail. We love the combination of the old Husqvarna CR tank, Pirelli trials knobby tires on a HDsportster with a Monkee hardtail rear frame. Add the WM megatron pipes and custom fender and you have one friggin cool looking bike. Their motorcycles are almost worth moving to Copenhagen for (also Carlsberg beer and lego). For all the specs and more pics visit the WM site.

These beautiful photos were shot by Kristian Ranker for a story in French magazine Citizen K. The story is titled ‘Life on the PCH’. PCH stands for Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles. The article takes a look at the biker culture who ride their customs along this famous stretch of road. If you want to see more shots in this great series check out Means Ranker (There’s also a pretty cool video on there as well).

Something a little bit different. We don’t post a lot of Harley‘s on Pipeburn. But we thought this HD hardtail was too good to sit idle on the desktop. It’s named the Mercury Pusher and was made by a shop in Ohio, USA called Led Sleds. They specialize in custom HD sportsters and have some amazing projects on their site. This was our pick of the bunch though. Look out for this bike on the cover of Cyclesource Magazine.

The much anticipated Chop Cult has launched. The site has a fresh feel and some even fresher bikes. We found this immaculate purple 1979 Erwin SR500. Built by the talented Kim Boyle, we are having trouble taking our eyes off it. We thought the beautiful Blue Moon Kustom tank looked familiar having seen it on their blog recently. For more details on the build and more beautiful pics by Wes Drelleshak check out Chop Cult.

We came across this beautiful looking 1967 T120R Triumph Hard Tail on the very cool Cycle Zombies Blog. The blog has a great mix of motorbikes, surf and skate material (heres where I do a plug for the hopkin skate shop). Anyway back to the Triumph. It is actually for sale for $7,500 which sounds very reasonable considering the work thats gone into it. For more pics and details hit this zombie link.

This is a conversion of a 1998 Yamaha XVS 650 Drag Star (Star V Star 650 in the US) called the Beachstar. It’s been described as a cross between a cafe racer and a board tracker. With or without the 60’s looking fairing this bike looks awesome. The Beachstar was built by a German by the name of Mario Baer. Baer needed only one summer to modify this old 1998 Yamaha Drag Star, working only in the evenings. Thats impressive work. It’s not just a show bike either, it’s also a commuter. He rides the Beachstar to work nearly every day and last year the Beachstar won some impressive shows including the world-renowned 2008 Intermot show in Cologne. We are looking forward to seeing Baer’s next project which he describes as “Hmmm…something exceptionally spectacular with a huge rear wheel and a small front wheel. Something completely crazy!”. [More pics on Motorcycle Cruiser].

We love discovering custom shops in our own backyard. These guys are called Speer Motorcycles and are based in Melbourne, Australia. They do a mixture of servicing, restoring and customizing of vintage, unique and performance bikes. Here’s two of their latest projects, the first is a Suzuki T500 cafe racer. The second is a BSA B31 250cc hard tail. Both look like they were built to ride. Check out Speers Blog if you want to see more from this shop. [Thanks to MC Trader for finding this one]

Japanese custom motorcycle builder Chicara Nagata is in a league of his own. He doesn’t call his bikes motorcycles, he calls them pieces of art. Which is why the Ippodo Gallery in NYC has had an exhibition recently showing his amazing chrome bikes. Chicara has won numerous awards for his custom motorcycles, which take him over 7000 hrs to build. This level of craftsmanship has its price, with most of his bikes selling for around $1 million – ouch. Hit this video to see Chicara talk about his amazing masterpieces.

It’s been way too long since I’ve mentioned a Japanese Custom shop. Heres one called Custom Jump from Kyushu. They specialize in TW200, TW225’s and of course the favourite SR400. They have created some crazy TW’s and this is just a taste. Check their gallery to see more, including an American Chopper styled TW225.